Reivew of Suicide Squad volumes 2 & 3

The premise of this series has been done many times before. Take
the baddest of the bad guys, and dragoon them into doing good in exchange for
time off their sentences. In this case, the bad guys are actual super-villains
(Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, Deadshot and others) who work
under Amanda Waller to keep the world safe from worse super-villains than they
are. Waller keeps them in line through explosive neck implants that she can
remotely detonate.

Volume 2 picks up there the first one (reviewed here) left
off, as the Squad faces the international terrorist Basilisk. In a dramatic concluding
scene, Deadshot sacrifices himself to kill Basilisk, proving that even the most
villainous villains can act heroic when called upon to do so.

Except that in Volume 3, both hero and villain return. And
although this is common in comic books, it should not be the case for Suicide
Squad. The premise of Suicide Squad is that these characters are disposable.
What else could explain the presence of Slipknot in the upcoming Suicide Squad
movie? The tension that these characters are actually risking their lives is
what makes this title different from almost every other comic book title, and
removing that from the equation removes much of this title’s uniqueness. I did
not keep a count, but it’s possible that over these 13 issues, we actually have
more characters return from death than actually die. And that’s a problem.

Harley Quinn continues to be the breakout start of this
series, and the two issues where she goes head-to-head against Joker were very
good. There are indications in that issue and following that he has gotten back
inside her head, and her personality split between Harley & Harleen may
return in future issues. King Shark is the other recurring villain that I have
grown fond of, as his presence adds a nice bit of humor to the book.

And the dramatic turn of events at the end of issue 19
guarantees that I will be tracking down volume 4 of this title.